Color My World
by SkylarEQuinn
Summary: Human AU. Colors AU. Gilbert Beilschmidt always went to his friend's parties in college, being told that one day he would meet his soulmate and they'd give him the opportunity to see in color. It wasn't like he believed that...until he met Elizaveta. Gift fic for princessAppleline0011.


Gilbert didn't mind the way he saw the world. He liked the shades of gray mixed with the black and white all around him. In all honesty, he was a little nervous about finding his soulmate. The idea of one-day seeing in color almost terrified him. He didn't like change too much. That was why he didn't want to meet his soulmate.

Now, he grew up thinking it was some sort of fairytale, that when he grew up and met the right person to fall in love with he'd see more than just black, white, and gray. His father and mother had told him about all of the other colors. They had told him that his eyes were "red" and his hair was white. He was told that he was special. "Albino", they had said. He had been told his condition was not very common, and that it meant he was special. He liked that when he was younger. But as his friends had discovered their soulmates, they had grown to find it odd that he had "red" eyes instead of "green" or "blue" or "brown". Gilbert didn't care, though. He figured it made him special.

As Gilbert sat back at his friend Francis's party, he didn't know what to think. Francis did throw grand parties, and it was true, he did invite interesting people. Gilbert always met new people every weekend at them. True, people from all of the surrounding colleges came as well as people from his college, but it wasn't like he met many people from his college anyway. He usually just hung out with his friends Francis and Antonio and just met people through them, like Francis's Belgian girlfriend Charlotte or Antonio's Italian boyfriend Lovino.

Gilbert sat back with his beer and just watched the people. It was interesting to people watch at Francis's parties. His favorite was watching the frat boys trying to win over the sorority girls, especially when they were drunk. That was his favorite. Francis used to be one of those frat boys until one of those sorority girls fell madly in love with him and he fell hard for her.

"Are you having a good time?" Charlotte asked, coming to sit next to him. She flipped her blonde hair behind her shoulder and tightened the knot on her headband. "You seem to be bored." Her hand easily removed Gilbert's beer from his hand as she took a sip from it. "You know, I've never told you this before, but your red eyes are quite stunning. I can't wait until you find the girl who thinks they're just as beautiful."

"Are you flirting with me?" Gilbert asked. "Gross." He took his beer back from her and took a swig of it. "Getting your disgusting germs all over my beer," he grumbled. "How am I supposed to drink this now?"

"Always the charmer, Gil," she sighed. She smiled. "I invited one of my sorority sisters today. She's a transfer from a different university."

"And why would I care?" Gilbert asked, glancing over at her.

"Because she still sees in black and white," Charlotte answered, smirking. "She's never found her soulmate like most people our age. Maybe you could be it."

Gilbert scoffed. "Wake up, Charlie," he laughed. "I'm no one's soulmate. I already accepted that. I'm twenty-five and still in college. No one would want a loser like me."

"That's not true, Gil," Charlotte sighed. "There really is someone out there for you. I believe that you can be happy just like Francois and Toni."

Gilbert snorted. "I don't believe in all of that lovey dovey bullshit," he said before taking a drink of his beer.

.

Elizaveta Héderváry sat back and dug her spoon into her bowl of ice cream as she watched some stupid romantic comedy on TV. It was always the same to her, but she hated when they mentioned colors because she couldn't tell the difference. She hoped that one day she would be able to see her own hair color for herself, instead of some dull gray color.

Her mother had always told her that she had such beautiful hair, just like her father's, but she didn't know what that meant, having never seen or met her father. He had died when she was a baby. She was told she had her mother's eyes but took after her father in many ways.

However, Elizaveta had always wanted to fall in love. She wanted it so badly she dreamed of it every night. It was so bad that the man's silhouette was in every dream of hers. When he spoke, she could even hear a faint accent, yet every morning when she woke up she forgot what kind of accent it was. That was the part that always depressed her.

When Charlotte had invited her to the party, she had said she'd think about it, but she had already decided she didn't want to go. Parties were so stupid, and it wasn't like Charlotte was going to pay any attention to her anyway. She'd be too busy making out with or having sex with Francis in his bedroom.

Elizaveta sat back and looked into her tub of ice cream and then at her closet. There was one outfit she had been dying to wear that looked really good on her. It was tight as the top and short on the bottom, short and flowy. She had also gotten knee-high black boots. They would be perfect party shoes. Maybe she could even do something with her hair and makeup. As she thought more about it, she decided to go to the party after all.

Walking into the party was an entirely different experience than she thought it would be. There were drunk people all over. She didn't know where anyone she knew was, and it made her slightly anxious. Drunken fraternity boys flirted with tipsy sorority girls. Some of the girls were wearing what looked like just sports bras and mini skirts. Was it that kind of party?

Elizaveta shook her head and sighed. She really hoped she could find Charlotte soon. If not, she was going to drink until those people went away. She didn't need the anxiety or the stress or the obnoxious men.

She walked across the room to a case of alcohol. Sifting through it, she found a can of Strawberrita. It was the last one and she was so glad that she found it. Elizaveta cracked it open and got a nice, quick drink of it. Though she wasn't a lightweight when it came to drinking, she felt a nice buzz from it as there was a fuzzy tingling spreading all over her body. Maybe the night could get better.

.

Charlotte was dragging Gilbert through the crowd later in the night. "She's here somewhere, Gilbert," she insisted. "I know because she texted me and told me she was here. I just haven't seen her yet." Her eyes scanned the crowd of people. "Come on, Gil, don't make that face at me. I can't even see you and I know what face you're making at me."

"Oh, shut up," Gilbert sighed before taking a drink of his third beer that night. "And just _why_ are you trying to set me up with this girl? I don't need to find my soulmate, Charlie. I'm fine."

"Gilbert, you don't know what it's like to see in color," Charlotte sighed out happily. "Seeing in color and being in love are two of the greatest things in life. Ask Francis and Antonio if you don't believe me." She hummed happily to herself. "Oh, Gil, you have no idea what you're missing!"

"I think I do," Gilbert laughed. Then he looked over and saw a girl with long hair that looked a little different to him. It was flowing down her back and to the top of her short, flowing skirt. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Charlotte turned and followed his gaze. "Eliza!" she shouted to be heard over the music and the drunken students. "Elizaveta Héderváry!"

The girl turned to them and ran over. "Charlotte Schmit, you bitch! I've been looking everywhere for you!" She was slightly drunk, but still had her bearings about her. Her jaw dropped when she saw Gilbert. "What's up with your eyes?" she asked him.

"What?" Gilbert asked her as he noticed her hair turning a different shade.

Charlotte's eyes lit up in understanding. "I'll leave you two alone now."

.

Elizaveta didn't understand the color she was seeing in that man's eyes. It was unlike any color she had ever seen. It definitely wasn't black, white, or gray. His eyes were a color that made the blood rush through her veins. She was already light-headed from the alcohol she had been drinking, so she wondered if it was just the alcohol playing tricks on her.

Gilbert wanted to reach out and touch her hair. It was a different color than the usual colors he saw. He couldn't even begin to describe it, but he wanted to reach out and touch it. "Uh, hey," he said. "I'm Gilbert."

"Elizaveta," she answered just loud enough for him to hear and understand her. She could feel her face growing hot as her eyes scanned him. His hair color never changed from the white that she originally saw, but his skin grew to match her skin color, but a few shades lighter. His clothes were a little mismatched, but she didn't care. Her thoughts were only stuck on those eyes. Those beautiful eyes that just seemed to sparkle and send thrilling sensations through her body.

Gilbert reached out and touched her hair, hoping she wouldn't smack him. "Your hair, Elizaveta," he said in utter awe.

Elizaveta almost took a step back. "What about it?" she cautiously asked. She had just met the man, but her love for his eyes made her trust him. The other thing that made her trust him was that she was now seeing colors. She wondered if he saw the same thing.

"It's beautiful," Gilbert said. "It's a color I've never seen before." He looked at her eyes. They were the same color as the carpet in Francis's house. He liked them a lot. They were mesmerizing to him and he wanted nothing more than to look at those eyes every day for the rest of his life. "Is this what they mean by soulmate?"

"You see the colors, too?" Elizaveta asked, eyes filling with tears. All her life, she had been waiting for her soulmate. And now that they had finally shown up, it was so overwhelming.

"I see them," Gilbert told her. "And you are the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen."

Elizaveta's tears ran down her cheeks for a moment. "You are just…" She couldn't find the words to say, so she pressed her lips to his. "I'm glad I found you," she said when she pulled away. "I almost didn't come tonight."

"I'm glad you did," Gilbert said. "Thank you."

"No, Gilbert," she said, smiling. "Thank you, for coloring my world."


End file.
